How to Build VCR Reports in Google Sheets & Excel Guide

When you’re running serious video campaigns across YouTube, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, and ad networks, “just checking VCR” can quietly turn into a part‑time job. Let’s walk through the top ways to calculate video completion rate—starting with simple manual methods, then scaling up with an AI computer agent.

1. Manual Video Completion Rate in Google Sheets

Step 1: Structure your sheet

• A1: "Video Name"
• B1: "Platform"
• C1: "Video Plays"
• D1: "Completed Views"
• E1: "Video Completion Rate (%)"

Step 2: Enter your data

• For each video, paste total plays into column C.
• Paste completed views into column D (from YouTube Analytics, Meta, etc.).

Step 3: Add the VCR formula

• In E2, type: =IF(C2=0,0,D2/C2*100)
• Format E2 as a percentage with 1–2 decimal places.
• Drag the formula down for all rows.

Pros

• Free, fast to set up.
• Easy to customize with filters, charts, and pivots.

Cons

• Manual copy‑paste is error‑prone.
• Doesn’t scale well beyond a few campaigns.

2. Manual Video Completion Rate in Excel

Excel is ideal if your video metrics need to roll into financial models, cohort analysis, or client‑facing decks.

Step 1: Build a clean table

• Row 1 headers: Video, Channel, Plays, Completed_Views, VCR_%.
• Convert the range to a Table (Ctrl+T / Command+T) so formulas auto‑fill.

Step 2: Apply the VCR formula

• In VCR_% column: =IF([@Plays]=0,0,[@Completed_Views]/[@Plays]*100)
• Format as Percentage.

Step 3: Summaries and comparisons

• Use PivotTables to compare VCR by channel, campaign, or creative.
• Add conditional formatting to highlight top and bottom performers.

Pros

• Strong for modeling, dashboards, and client reporting.
• Tables and pivots make analysis powerful.

Cons

• Same problem as Sheets: manual data entry.
• Multiple files quickly go out of sync.

3. Automating VCR Calculation With an AI Computer Agent

Manual workflows break the moment you’re tracking dozens of videos across multiple platforms and clients. This is where delegating to an AI computer agent—like Simular’s desktop‑grade agents—changes the game.

Instead of logging in everywhere yourself, the agent can behave like a power user:

• Open your browser and ad platforms.
• Navigate to the right reports.
• Export or copy key metrics: plays, completed views, watch‑time.
• Open Google Sheets or Excel.
• Paste fresh numbers into the exact cells you specify.
• Recalculate VCR and refresh charts.
• Save, close, or even email links to stakeholders.

How the Agent Workflow Looks

1. Define your blueprint
   Describe your ideal VCR update run: which platforms, what date ranges, which Sheet or workbook, and where to paste the data.
2. Teach once, reuse forever
   You walk through the steps once; the agent observes and turns that into a reproducible workflow—clicks, keystrokes, formulas and all.
3. Schedule or trigger on demand
   Run it daily at 8am, or trigger via webhook when a new campaign launches.

Pros of AI‑Driven VCR Calculation

• Massively scalable: 10 or 10,000 videos, the workflow is the same.
• Production‑grade repeatability: Each step is logged and inspectable so you can trust the numbers.
• Cross‑tool native: Works across browser dashboards, CSV exports, Google Sheets, Excel, and even BI tools.

Cons / Trade‑offs

• Requires a short upfront setup and testing phase.
• You still own the analytics thinking—the agent automates the grunt work, not the strategy.

4. Hybrid: Human Insight, Agent Execution

The sweet spot for most teams is hybrid:

• You decide which campaigns matter.
• You define the thresholds for “good” and “bad” VCR.
• The AI agent does the daily drudge work of fetching, cleaning, and calculating.

Set it up so the agent updates a central VCR dashboard in Google Sheets or Excel, then sends you a short summary: top winners, problem videos, and anomalies worth a human look. You stay in the role of the strategist; the AI becomes your tireless operations analyst.